We seem to have figured out what is going on with the internet access. We disconnected the laptops from the new hardware, and operated for a while directly connected to the Marina AP, and discovered that they do cut off the connection every half hour, about 13 minutes after the half-hour. We have to wait a minute, and then re-login to re-establish the connection. I think that this is done to prevent streamers from monopolizing bandwidth, and our Vonage connection is therefore caught by it. The Vonage box disconnects, and unless one of us re-establishes a connection it can latch onto, it is dead.
Interesting strategy to control access to a limited resource. We may go up to the Marina and see if there is a way to fix this, but we have to be careful that they don't take offense at our use of the signal for Vonage. I have heard that some ISPs do NOT like to have their bandwidth used for telephone service that they are not paid for. Especially if the ISP is a telephone company...
Ahhh... we live in such an interesting age.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Rainy Sunday morning
We woke up about 5:30 AM to the sound of quite hard rain falling on the boat. We had to close a few hatches quite quickly, but did not notice that the USB hub for one computer got a bit wet, and therefore the mouse stopped working later. We are more sensitive to rain(and other sources of water, such as Calypso) than we used to be, but still have to work on this a bit more.
The Access Point and Vonage now work, but there are still a few bugs to iron out. The Vonage box seems to cause our ISP here in the marina to time out the connection frequently, and we have to re-login to the network. It is a hassle, especially because the phone becomes disconnected and cannot accept incoming calls. The disconnections occur every 30 minutes, or so. I think there may be a setting in the router that can fix this, but haven't found a solution yet. It may have to do with DHCP, and the periodic reassignment of IP addresses. It is a pain that I have to understand TCP/IP subnet strategies in order to connect a telephone, but I guess we are asking for some cutting-edge capability, and should be willing to suffer a bit to attain it.
"Connect everything to everything else." That was the headline on an IBM ad that I used to have posted in my cube, and I think it is a good philosophy. I still don't understand why it is so difficult...
We had a great dinner last nite. London broil, rice pilaf, spinach, salad, and a bottle of 2000 Chateau Julia(!), which we bought in NY, for only $40. Outside a restaurant, we don't often buy $40 wines, but this seemed to be a good deal, and it was. The wine was fantastic, and really went well with everything in the meal. Finished up with some nice chocolate, and a private viewing of another SG-1 episode. This am, we did eggs poached in the microwave, with herbs from our herb garden, on toast from our favorite bakery. Not bad.
The red cat is getting more and more stir-crazy. We have a new large vessel (~90-100 feet) parked behind us. It is home-ported in Nashville, and the buzz is that it was once the private yacht of some country-western singer, before it was purchased by the current owner, who seems to spend his time on the back porch staring into the distance. jlm thinks he is mean, and not amenable to red cats scampering across his decks. Dante therefore desparately wants to go on board and explore. He has already jumped down to the aft swim platform twice, willfully, in complete disobediance of direct instruction to cease-and-desist bad thoughts. We will have to spend a LOT of effort to control these bad thoughts.
We also cycled down to the Port Salerno seafood festival yesterday am. It is south of the airport, about 5-6 miles away, but the trip was not difficult, because the roads here are ALL flat. rxc had some "shark bites", while jlm enjoyed mussels. It was only the 2nd annual festival there, but they had a large number of booths, and the number of people was overwhelming. We were lucky to get there shortly after it opened. I think they will have to reconsider their planning next year, because parking will be impossible. On bicycles, it would even have been difficult to find a place to lock them up if we had arrived later. We may go down to the Greek festival at the Martin County Fairgrounds today.
At this point, the boat mods are pretty much complete. We are still waiting for the high-output alternator from Jackrabbit Marine, but that will be an easy install. Having done this sort of thing before means that I understand what needs to be done, and it will not involve much re-wiring - I have already done those major mods in preparation for this event.
I would also like to install a backup potable water pump, but first I have to find it, somewhere on the boat. This is really frustrating. We bought and brought so much stuff on-board that we have forgotten where it is stowed. An in-line water filter in the pot water supply would also be a good idea, but I can't figure out where to mount it, or plumb it. This will take quite a bit of thought, because the natural location is already taken up by watermaker plumbing and hardware.
So now rxc will settle into doing some studying for the ham radio license, and maybe doing some computer-related paperwork. Also, maybe some rationalizing of the tools and parts. We have a LOT of extra wire on this boat that we should not need for a while, so it should go into deep storage. Same with nuts and bolts and storage units for nuts and bolts. Then, we can start to buy fishing tackle!
More on Monday.
The Access Point and Vonage now work, but there are still a few bugs to iron out. The Vonage box seems to cause our ISP here in the marina to time out the connection frequently, and we have to re-login to the network. It is a hassle, especially because the phone becomes disconnected and cannot accept incoming calls. The disconnections occur every 30 minutes, or so. I think there may be a setting in the router that can fix this, but haven't found a solution yet. It may have to do with DHCP, and the periodic reassignment of IP addresses. It is a pain that I have to understand TCP/IP subnet strategies in order to connect a telephone, but I guess we are asking for some cutting-edge capability, and should be willing to suffer a bit to attain it.
"Connect everything to everything else." That was the headline on an IBM ad that I used to have posted in my cube, and I think it is a good philosophy. I still don't understand why it is so difficult...
We had a great dinner last nite. London broil, rice pilaf, spinach, salad, and a bottle of 2000 Chateau Julia(!), which we bought in NY, for only $40. Outside a restaurant, we don't often buy $40 wines, but this seemed to be a good deal, and it was. The wine was fantastic, and really went well with everything in the meal. Finished up with some nice chocolate, and a private viewing of another SG-1 episode. This am, we did eggs poached in the microwave, with herbs from our herb garden, on toast from our favorite bakery. Not bad.
The red cat is getting more and more stir-crazy. We have a new large vessel (~90-100 feet) parked behind us. It is home-ported in Nashville, and the buzz is that it was once the private yacht of some country-western singer, before it was purchased by the current owner, who seems to spend his time on the back porch staring into the distance. jlm thinks he is mean, and not amenable to red cats scampering across his decks. Dante therefore desparately wants to go on board and explore. He has already jumped down to the aft swim platform twice, willfully, in complete disobediance of direct instruction to cease-and-desist bad thoughts. We will have to spend a LOT of effort to control these bad thoughts.
We also cycled down to the Port Salerno seafood festival yesterday am. It is south of the airport, about 5-6 miles away, but the trip was not difficult, because the roads here are ALL flat. rxc had some "shark bites", while jlm enjoyed mussels. It was only the 2nd annual festival there, but they had a large number of booths, and the number of people was overwhelming. We were lucky to get there shortly after it opened. I think they will have to reconsider their planning next year, because parking will be impossible. On bicycles, it would even have been difficult to find a place to lock them up if we had arrived later. We may go down to the Greek festival at the Martin County Fairgrounds today.
At this point, the boat mods are pretty much complete. We are still waiting for the high-output alternator from Jackrabbit Marine, but that will be an easy install. Having done this sort of thing before means that I understand what needs to be done, and it will not involve much re-wiring - I have already done those major mods in preparation for this event.
I would also like to install a backup potable water pump, but first I have to find it, somewhere on the boat. This is really frustrating. We bought and brought so much stuff on-board that we have forgotten where it is stowed. An in-line water filter in the pot water supply would also be a good idea, but I can't figure out where to mount it, or plumb it. This will take quite a bit of thought, because the natural location is already taken up by watermaker plumbing and hardware.
So now rxc will settle into doing some studying for the ham radio license, and maybe doing some computer-related paperwork. Also, maybe some rationalizing of the tools and parts. We have a LOT of extra wire on this boat that we should not need for a while, so it should go into deep storage. Same with nuts and bolts and storage units for nuts and bolts. Then, we can start to buy fishing tackle!
More on Monday.
Friday, January 25, 2008
End of week report
Well, only one more "work day" left this week to finish up a few projects, but we made great progress yesterday, so success looks possible.
Wednesday, we spent most of the day with Karen down in the South Florida Fair, watching the pig races, eating "fair food", looking at the way people used to live in FL, before all the developers identified all of the value in the land here and built houses and condos. Quite amusing, and a very nice diversion from the simple life on the boat. We also visited a very nice ice cream stand in Jupiter that Karen knew that served a very interesting mix of custard ice cream and gelato. Just the thing in the heat the last few days.
Yesterday, while jlm worked on the book, rxc finally bit the bullet and worked on the wireless access point. The boat is torn apart (again), while we figure out where to put the boxes, and the power supplies, and the wires (the damned wires). (new photos will go up on Flickr) It is not quite as bad as it could be, though, because we were able to find a pull-rope in one of the cable runs (left behind, conveniently, by Jeanneau), which enabled a relatively easy trip for the wire from the arch to the electical panel. The arch was a bit problematic, because rxc lost the pull rope for the hole he wanted to use, but then recovered because another rope was nearby. It only took about 30 minutes to deal with this. The cable made it all the way to the watermaker before we had to stop to wash up and get changed for the theater.
Last nite we walked to the Lyric Theater here in Stuart to see the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago 2 dance troupe. They are a small troupe (7) of young (18-25) people who are sort of an adjunct operation of the main Hubbard Street Dance organization. They tour and do workshops in schools, and did two show last nite here in Stuart before going on to Tampa(I think), and then back towards Chicago. The dancing was very nice, and the dancers came out after the performance and talked to the audience for about 30 minutes. Nice young people.
Dinner last nite was at the Basil Garden Thai restaurant in Stuart. The peanut sauces and the satay were a bit on the sweet side, but the chicken salad that jlm ordered had a great ginger sauce, and rxc's pork/eggplant/basil entree was also really good, especially with a bit of chile pepper sauce. The walk back to the boat was nice.
This AM, rxc should be able to finish installing the wireless AP, which should also enable the Vonage phone, which will be very useful to jlm for talking to her co-author and working on the book.
The kitties really like the weather that has blown in. Highs in the high 60s, lows in the low 50s, and nice winds. Great MC weather. We had a bit of excitement Tuesday nite when Dante came back from the 470 next door, and tried to jump thru the netting. He bounced off, and ended up hanging over the side on the aluminum toerail. jlm was on-board and heard this loud thump, which did not sound good. She went out to check, and there he was, hanging on for dear life. She lifted all 4 feet of him over the rail, and he just melted into her arms. No struggling, no claws, just happy to be rescued.
He has also turned out to be a little busy-body when the other cats go onto the pier. He follows them (Zabelle and Siren) down the pier, and never leaves their sight. We think he thinks he has to supervise them.
More to come after we get the AP working.
Wednesday, we spent most of the day with Karen down in the South Florida Fair, watching the pig races, eating "fair food", looking at the way people used to live in FL, before all the developers identified all of the value in the land here and built houses and condos. Quite amusing, and a very nice diversion from the simple life on the boat. We also visited a very nice ice cream stand in Jupiter that Karen knew that served a very interesting mix of custard ice cream and gelato. Just the thing in the heat the last few days.
Yesterday, while jlm worked on the book, rxc finally bit the bullet and worked on the wireless access point. The boat is torn apart (again), while we figure out where to put the boxes, and the power supplies, and the wires (the damned wires). (new photos will go up on Flickr) It is not quite as bad as it could be, though, because we were able to find a pull-rope in one of the cable runs (left behind, conveniently, by Jeanneau), which enabled a relatively easy trip for the wire from the arch to the electical panel. The arch was a bit problematic, because rxc lost the pull rope for the hole he wanted to use, but then recovered because another rope was nearby. It only took about 30 minutes to deal with this. The cable made it all the way to the watermaker before we had to stop to wash up and get changed for the theater.
Last nite we walked to the Lyric Theater here in Stuart to see the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago 2 dance troupe. They are a small troupe (7) of young (18-25) people who are sort of an adjunct operation of the main Hubbard Street Dance organization. They tour and do workshops in schools, and did two show last nite here in Stuart before going on to Tampa(I think), and then back towards Chicago. The dancing was very nice, and the dancers came out after the performance and talked to the audience for about 30 minutes. Nice young people.
Dinner last nite was at the Basil Garden Thai restaurant in Stuart. The peanut sauces and the satay were a bit on the sweet side, but the chicken salad that jlm ordered had a great ginger sauce, and rxc's pork/eggplant/basil entree was also really good, especially with a bit of chile pepper sauce. The walk back to the boat was nice.
This AM, rxc should be able to finish installing the wireless AP, which should also enable the Vonage phone, which will be very useful to jlm for talking to her co-author and working on the book.
The kitties really like the weather that has blown in. Highs in the high 60s, lows in the low 50s, and nice winds. Great MC weather. We had a bit of excitement Tuesday nite when Dante came back from the 470 next door, and tried to jump thru the netting. He bounced off, and ended up hanging over the side on the aluminum toerail. jlm was on-board and heard this loud thump, which did not sound good. She went out to check, and there he was, hanging on for dear life. She lifted all 4 feet of him over the rail, and he just melted into her arms. No struggling, no claws, just happy to be rescued.
He has also turned out to be a little busy-body when the other cats go onto the pier. He follows them (Zabelle and Siren) down the pier, and never leaves their sight. We think he thinks he has to supervise them.
More to come after we get the AP working.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Backstory Part 5 - Jacksonville and Florida!
Jacksonville Beach was a great stop. We met Jane Lynn’s cousin Pat and her husband Jim, as well as Kathy and Bill Little. We had a fabulous meal down in St. Augustine, and did some major re-provisioning at the stores that were within walking distance of the Marina. Then we were off down the ditch again, thru St. Augustine by boat, anchoring right next to a NPS historical castle south of St. Augustine. One more day took us further south to another anchorage at Ponce de Leon Inlet, where we planned to jump off for another off-shore sail.
Up late that day, at low tide (we seem to be in a rut about tides), we felt our way out of Ponce Inlet, and sailed south past Cape Canaveral. The Shuttle launch had been canceled, but we did manage to see the tail end of the launch of another rocket from Ponce Inlet. The high point of this trip, though, was the announcement, at 3AM, by the US Air Force that they were about to commence a “live fire exercise” about 15 miles SE of Cape Canaveral. Upon hearing this, we checked our position and discovered that WE were about 15 miles SE of Cape Canaveral, so Ralph called the USAF and asked them if they were going to shoot at US. They asked for our coordinates, which he provided, and then they explained that they had us in sight, and would not fire at us(!). We had the radar on, but could not see any targets in the vicinity, so they must have been using something in stealth mode. We didn’t see anything, but Lynn heard the noise of the firing.
The other interesting sight as we proceeded south appeared about 5AM, when a very bright light was sighted. At first we thought it was a large city, or maybe a large cruise ship, all lit up, but eventually we figured that it was the St. Lucie power plant, all lit up like a XMAS tree. It is a target that stands out from everything else on the coast. So much for security.
The NWS had predicted west winds, clocking to the NW, so of course the winds backed to just south of west, and we ended up beating the entire way south, with the need to motor-sail the last 2 hours to get in-shore. The kitties did not appreciate beating to windward for 18 hours…
We made the entrance to the St. Lucie River at 8AM, about the time of low tide(!), and proceeded up river where Ralph picked the Harborage Marina because it has WiFi, and (supposedly) has plenty of water for us to get in. The dockmaster pointed us to a spot on a long pier, and we got within 10 feet before going aground, so he offered us a 75 ft(!) slip, where we are now tied up. It is grand. It is so big that we cannot get lines on the pilings on the other side of the slip from the finger pier, so we have to use bumpers when the wind is from the west.
Up late that day, at low tide (we seem to be in a rut about tides), we felt our way out of Ponce Inlet, and sailed south past Cape Canaveral. The Shuttle launch had been canceled, but we did manage to see the tail end of the launch of another rocket from Ponce Inlet. The high point of this trip, though, was the announcement, at 3AM, by the US Air Force that they were about to commence a “live fire exercise” about 15 miles SE of Cape Canaveral. Upon hearing this, we checked our position and discovered that WE were about 15 miles SE of Cape Canaveral, so Ralph called the USAF and asked them if they were going to shoot at US. They asked for our coordinates, which he provided, and then they explained that they had us in sight, and would not fire at us(!). We had the radar on, but could not see any targets in the vicinity, so they must have been using something in stealth mode. We didn’t see anything, but Lynn heard the noise of the firing.
The other interesting sight as we proceeded south appeared about 5AM, when a very bright light was sighted. At first we thought it was a large city, or maybe a large cruise ship, all lit up, but eventually we figured that it was the St. Lucie power plant, all lit up like a XMAS tree. It is a target that stands out from everything else on the coast. So much for security.
The NWS had predicted west winds, clocking to the NW, so of course the winds backed to just south of west, and we ended up beating the entire way south, with the need to motor-sail the last 2 hours to get in-shore. The kitties did not appreciate beating to windward for 18 hours…
We made the entrance to the St. Lucie River at 8AM, about the time of low tide(!), and proceeded up river where Ralph picked the Harborage Marina because it has WiFi, and (supposedly) has plenty of water for us to get in. The dockmaster pointed us to a spot on a long pier, and we got within 10 feet before going aground, so he offered us a 75 ft(!) slip, where we are now tied up. It is grand. It is so big that we cannot get lines on the pilings on the other side of the slip from the finger pier, so we have to use bumpers when the wind is from the west.
Backstory Part 4 - Down the ditch, and offshore
We left Beaufort right after Thanksgiving, with National Weather Service predictions of north winds, shifting to the northwest. We had met some other boat heading south, and it appeared that we all had the same idea – namely to head directly for Charleston from Beaufort when a nice weather window opened, and this looked like the window. We left at 5:00 AM and the winds were astern, as predicted, but they gradually shifted to the NE, so that we had the wind directly astern. The winds also did not stay in the 10-15 kt range, but built all day, to 20-25, with gusts in the 30-35 foot range. The seas also built up considerably, to about 8-12 feet, so that we were doing some amazing corkscrews down the face of the waves. We made great progress, but it was quite hard on the kitties. Calypso, in particular, was miserable. She drools continuously, and it is quite an effort to anti-drool-proof the inside of the boat. In fact, during this day, she managed to drool all over our main cell phone, shorting out the power-charge connectors and corroding them into non-existence. We have since been dependent on the backup cell-phone, which is a pay-as-you-go phone, and therefore much more expensive.
After 8 hours of corkscrewing, we decided to head into Wrightsville Beach, NC. We arrived about 6PM, just before they started their annual XMAS boat parade. We had heard about these sort of things in Annapolis, but had never seen one close-up before. They made us un-anchor from the spot we had chosen because it was inside the fireworks safety zone. All-in-all, an exciting day (not a good thing).
Next day, we decided to go back to the ditch (the ICW) for a bit. We started late and motored down thru the Wilmington area, and almost made it to the infamous bridge that does not open at low tide (because it is a floating bridge that goes aground at low tide), and then we were stuck, because there wasn’t anyplace to anchor or any marinas open to duck into. We tried to find our way into a few creeks, but the tide was too low. Eventually, we begged a slip at a marina that was being renovated, and they let us tie up for the nite. We also befriended a nice young Iraq vet named Matt who was driving his 25 ft sailboat south, all by himself. He had an 8HP outboard that he ran flat-out, and told us quite a few tales of life in the army in Iraq.
Next day, we motored all the way past Georgetown, NC, into the swamps. It was quite beautiful, with few boats, meandering down the rivers and thru the swamps. Near Georgetown the USCG seemed to be filling their monthly quota of inspections in one afternoon. We heard them stop one boat after another, for “safety inspections”. We were not, however, stopped.
fter the night in the swamps, we motored on to Charleston, SC, where we stayed at the City Marina. Quite civilized, living the big life on the “Mega-dock”, with hot showers and the courtesy van into Charleston. We got the bicycles out and cycled all over town. We had some really great meals, and the weather finally told us that we were “in the south”. We could have stayed for a month and eaten a LOT of shrimp and grits, but we had to keep pushing south, for some reason.
We motored out of Charleston in drizzle, back into the ditch, and spent the night again in a swamp, but a nice one. It was interesting that none of the guide books mentioned the spot we stopped as a potential anchorage, but two boats that followed us decided that we had picked a good spot, and anchored right next door. (hmmm…)
They left the next morning at dawn, but we decided to sleep in, and then head out again into the ocean. The NWS was predicting NW winds, 15-20, clocking to the north, so we decided to make a run down the coast past Savannah and Brunswick directly to Jacksonville. The first few hours went as predicted, but the wind stayed stubbornly from the west, so we were close-hauled for about 8-hours, and then we had to do some serious motor-sailing to windward to stay close to shore. The seas also built up to 5-8 feet, and we once again had to deal with unhappy kitties. Dante was the only one to come up on deck thru the night. He just wanted to be held, although at several points he tried to get out of the enclosure onto the deck, and even on to the back porch(!). We made our entrance to Jacksonville at about 8AM, and motored up the St. Johns River into the ICW, and then south a few miles to Jacksonville Beach, where we ploughed out way into a marina (at dead low tide) to stay for 4 days.
After 8 hours of corkscrewing, we decided to head into Wrightsville Beach, NC. We arrived about 6PM, just before they started their annual XMAS boat parade. We had heard about these sort of things in Annapolis, but had never seen one close-up before. They made us un-anchor from the spot we had chosen because it was inside the fireworks safety zone. All-in-all, an exciting day (not a good thing).
Next day, we decided to go back to the ditch (the ICW) for a bit. We started late and motored down thru the Wilmington area, and almost made it to the infamous bridge that does not open at low tide (because it is a floating bridge that goes aground at low tide), and then we were stuck, because there wasn’t anyplace to anchor or any marinas open to duck into. We tried to find our way into a few creeks, but the tide was too low. Eventually, we begged a slip at a marina that was being renovated, and they let us tie up for the nite. We also befriended a nice young Iraq vet named Matt who was driving his 25 ft sailboat south, all by himself. He had an 8HP outboard that he ran flat-out, and told us quite a few tales of life in the army in Iraq.
Next day, we motored all the way past Georgetown, NC, into the swamps. It was quite beautiful, with few boats, meandering down the rivers and thru the swamps. Near Georgetown the USCG seemed to be filling their monthly quota of inspections in one afternoon. We heard them stop one boat after another, for “safety inspections”. We were not, however, stopped.
fter the night in the swamps, we motored on to Charleston, SC, where we stayed at the City Marina. Quite civilized, living the big life on the “Mega-dock”, with hot showers and the courtesy van into Charleston. We got the bicycles out and cycled all over town. We had some really great meals, and the weather finally told us that we were “in the south”. We could have stayed for a month and eaten a LOT of shrimp and grits, but we had to keep pushing south, for some reason.
We motored out of Charleston in drizzle, back into the ditch, and spent the night again in a swamp, but a nice one. It was interesting that none of the guide books mentioned the spot we stopped as a potential anchorage, but two boats that followed us decided that we had picked a good spot, and anchored right next door. (hmmm…)
They left the next morning at dawn, but we decided to sleep in, and then head out again into the ocean. The NWS was predicting NW winds, 15-20, clocking to the north, so we decided to make a run down the coast past Savannah and Brunswick directly to Jacksonville. The first few hours went as predicted, but the wind stayed stubbornly from the west, so we were close-hauled for about 8-hours, and then we had to do some serious motor-sailing to windward to stay close to shore. The seas also built up to 5-8 feet, and we once again had to deal with unhappy kitties. Dante was the only one to come up on deck thru the night. He just wanted to be held, although at several points he tried to get out of the enclosure onto the deck, and even on to the back porch(!). We made our entrance to Jacksonville at about 8AM, and motored up the St. Johns River into the ICW, and then south a few miles to Jacksonville Beach, where we ploughed out way into a marina (at dead low tide) to stay for 4 days.
Busy LONG weekend, part 2
Back to the productivity.
We want to have a phone on board, but don't want to sign up for a cell phone service, and the pay-as-you-go plan gets expensive fast, so Vonage looked like a good solution. However, it requires a broadband connection, and it is not clear from their web site that WiFi on a boat qualifies as broadband.
They do have an alpha-application called Vonage Talk which works on the PC alone, using the microphone and speakers on the PC to give you a phone. So I downloaded this last week, andtried to get it to work, but the app seems to have problems recognizing customers, and I gave up. Sunday, sitting in the boat with nothing to do I decided to try again, and Voila! it worked. Called Joy in Pittsburgh, and she could hear us, and we had a nice talk. We even got her to send us the last of the boat stickers (details on another post) for the big boat.
So, now we have a phone, wherever we have a laptop and a WiFi connection, which is cool.
Monday, we went off to shop for groceries. Down Rt 1, to Publix for some pork chops and sald greens, and then over to the farm stand, where we buy LOTS of great fruits at really great prices. The fruit there seems to be much juicier than we ever got up north.
When we came, back, the Engenius box had arrived, and while jlm went off to the gym, I put it together, and tried to make it work. I didn't mount it, but just stuck it up on the book and ran an ethernet cable down thru the hatch, where it connected to a PoE injection point, and then to the laptop. All powered up well, and I was able to get into the router to configure it, but for 2 hours I could figure out how to make it pick up the WiFI and send it to the PC.
Lots of surfing on the web, looking for others who had similar problems, and Voila! I found a recent thread that explained that although you have to set the IP address and subnet mask manually to get IN to the AP, you have to re-enable auto IP addressing when you are done with the setup for it to recognize the computer. Do this and Voila! you have a connection.
Then it was on to the Vonage box, which sits between the AP and the PC. This was the tricky part, because I didn't know whether it could be convinced that the AP was really a cable modem. More ethernet wires were strung across the cabin, connecting the AP, the PoE injector, the Vonage box, a wireless phone(!), and the computer. With power cords everywhere, as well. I should have taken a photo.
Once again, I made it into the Vonage box to configure it, and it talked to me. It also recognized the AP, and proceeded to spend a LONG time downloading firmware upgrades before the lights finally arrived in the magic configuration, and Voila! I had a dial-tone on the phone!
Once again, called Joy to see how it worked. She is starting to wonder about us, because I am calling her to see if she "can hear me now". I figure that if SHE can understand us, given her bad hearing, everyone else can, as well.
I even used the Vonage Talk software to call the watermaker people to see whether I need to rally run the watermaker, or just flush it. They said just flush it, which is what I wanted to hear.
Celebrated this productivity success with some really nice pork chops, brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and cab/shiraz blend.
This AM (Tuesday), I started to see about locating the AP and the Vonage box, and have determined that this is going to be more hassle than thought. The mount for the AP antenna wants a vertical pole, which only exists in one suitable location on the arch, next to the SSB antenna. I don't want the AP antenna radiating into the SSB, or vice-versa. Also, it looks like I may have to cut off the ends of the cable and crimp on new plugs, to make it thru the holes in the arch. Then, I will have to find ANOTHER power strip to be able to plug in all of the new power bricks. As well as figuring out how to get the wire from the arch into the fwd part of the boat.
Ahh well. Life on a boat.
We also went to Mr. Bread this AM to buy the preferred loaf. Last time we went in the late PM, and they were out. We have learned. Also bought some stone crabs for dinner tonite.
Weather has moderated, and we are no longer rocking and rolling. Tommorrow we are off to the South Florida Fair in WBP with Karen and Pete. It should be interesting.
We want to have a phone on board, but don't want to sign up for a cell phone service, and the pay-as-you-go plan gets expensive fast, so Vonage looked like a good solution. However, it requires a broadband connection, and it is not clear from their web site that WiFi on a boat qualifies as broadband.
They do have an alpha-application called Vonage Talk which works on the PC alone, using the microphone and speakers on the PC to give you a phone. So I downloaded this last week, andtried to get it to work, but the app seems to have problems recognizing customers, and I gave up. Sunday, sitting in the boat with nothing to do I decided to try again, and Voila! it worked. Called Joy in Pittsburgh, and she could hear us, and we had a nice talk. We even got her to send us the last of the boat stickers (details on another post) for the big boat.
So, now we have a phone, wherever we have a laptop and a WiFi connection, which is cool.
Monday, we went off to shop for groceries. Down Rt 1, to Publix for some pork chops and sald greens, and then over to the farm stand, where we buy LOTS of great fruits at really great prices. The fruit there seems to be much juicier than we ever got up north.
When we came, back, the Engenius box had arrived, and while jlm went off to the gym, I put it together, and tried to make it work. I didn't mount it, but just stuck it up on the book and ran an ethernet cable down thru the hatch, where it connected to a PoE injection point, and then to the laptop. All powered up well, and I was able to get into the router to configure it, but for 2 hours I could figure out how to make it pick up the WiFI and send it to the PC.
Lots of surfing on the web, looking for others who had similar problems, and Voila! I found a recent thread that explained that although you have to set the IP address and subnet mask manually to get IN to the AP, you have to re-enable auto IP addressing when you are done with the setup for it to recognize the computer. Do this and Voila! you have a connection.
Then it was on to the Vonage box, which sits between the AP and the PC. This was the tricky part, because I didn't know whether it could be convinced that the AP was really a cable modem. More ethernet wires were strung across the cabin, connecting the AP, the PoE injector, the Vonage box, a wireless phone(!), and the computer. With power cords everywhere, as well. I should have taken a photo.
Once again, I made it into the Vonage box to configure it, and it talked to me. It also recognized the AP, and proceeded to spend a LONG time downloading firmware upgrades before the lights finally arrived in the magic configuration, and Voila! I had a dial-tone on the phone!
Once again, called Joy to see how it worked. She is starting to wonder about us, because I am calling her to see if she "can hear me now". I figure that if SHE can understand us, given her bad hearing, everyone else can, as well.
I even used the Vonage Talk software to call the watermaker people to see whether I need to rally run the watermaker, or just flush it. They said just flush it, which is what I wanted to hear.
Celebrated this productivity success with some really nice pork chops, brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and cab/shiraz blend.
This AM (Tuesday), I started to see about locating the AP and the Vonage box, and have determined that this is going to be more hassle than thought. The mount for the AP antenna wants a vertical pole, which only exists in one suitable location on the arch, next to the SSB antenna. I don't want the AP antenna radiating into the SSB, or vice-versa. Also, it looks like I may have to cut off the ends of the cable and crimp on new plugs, to make it thru the holes in the arch. Then, I will have to find ANOTHER power strip to be able to plug in all of the new power bricks. As well as figuring out how to get the wire from the arch into the fwd part of the boat.
Ahh well. Life on a boat.
We also went to Mr. Bread this AM to buy the preferred loaf. Last time we went in the late PM, and they were out. We have learned. Also bought some stone crabs for dinner tonite.
Weather has moderated, and we are no longer rocking and rolling. Tommorrow we are off to the South Florida Fair in WBP with Karen and Pete. It should be interesting.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Busy weekend
Well, the weather stayed quite excreble over the weekend, but we still managed to be productive(!). Saturday night jlm asked, just before we went to bed, whether it might rain, because she wanted to leave some hatches open for ventilation. I said that I thought it would likely rain, so we closed up, which was a good thing, because it poured all night. Buckets and buckets. With lightning and thunder to beat the badn. We unplugged computers and hoped that the big Catalina 470 next door with its taller mast would protect us. Luckily we all made it thru the night with no strikes. The catamaran two boats away was struck before we arrived in Stuart, and he is gradually working on replacing damaged equipment.
Lightning is funny stuff. I was talking to the owner of the C470, and he said that he was surprised when he found out that his big boat did not have all of the thru-hulls bonded, and Catalina told him that it was NOT protected from lightning. I told him that I thought that lightning protection on a boat was a real black art. Lightning is a very large mix of different electrical signals, at very high frequencies, which follows its own path to ground, and that path is very hard to predict on a boat. The current does not want to change directions, but you never know when it is going to decide that a sideways path to the water is preferable to a slightly tortuous path down your ground wire. Some people clamp welding cables to the shrouds and hang them in the water, while others run very expensive large diameter wire from chainplates to keelbolts to try to encourage the bolts to go out the keel. I think the high frequency cmponent in the bolt is what makes it so difficult to predict. Stranded wire is best to handle the high frequency, and flat conductors like the ones used for SSB grounding would probably be best, but I am not sure that flat foil could even handle the current. In any case, we all came thru OK.
I also helped the 470 owner track down a problem with his 110 outlets. It turns out that he had an additional GFCI installed in the chain of outlets on the starboard side or his boat, and it tripped. However, we did discover that the GFCI in his aft head was not tripping at all, which is NOT A GOOD THING. He plans a trip to the hardware store to buy a new one, and he will likely remove the one that was added, because the computer that used to use that outlet is no longer installed.
I tried to hook up the GPS to the two radios yesterday, but it does not look like the Raymarine system is putting out an NMEA signal. At least I found out that the boat was wired with this eventuality in mind, so I don't have to run more wire. I also found out that Jeanneau very thoughtfully pre-wired a number of other switches to terminal blocks, so that the additional of new electrical components would be easier. The more I discover about this boat, the more I am impressed with the forethought of the builder. Who says the French don't know how to build things correctly?
I also found the instruction manual for the anchor windlass, and in reading it(!) I discovered that I can calibrate the windlass so that it reads out the correct length of chain deployed. This is something that has also bugged some of the other Jeanneau owners, and I will report on my success with this project. It also looks like I will have to do some maintenance on winches and the windlass this week.
The biggest success of the weekend, however, and getting Vonage to work. We have been waiting for the WiFi access point to arrive, and I wondered whether other options might work.
More in the next post.
Lightning is funny stuff. I was talking to the owner of the C470, and he said that he was surprised when he found out that his big boat did not have all of the thru-hulls bonded, and Catalina told him that it was NOT protected from lightning. I told him that I thought that lightning protection on a boat was a real black art. Lightning is a very large mix of different electrical signals, at very high frequencies, which follows its own path to ground, and that path is very hard to predict on a boat. The current does not want to change directions, but you never know when it is going to decide that a sideways path to the water is preferable to a slightly tortuous path down your ground wire. Some people clamp welding cables to the shrouds and hang them in the water, while others run very expensive large diameter wire from chainplates to keelbolts to try to encourage the bolts to go out the keel. I think the high frequency cmponent in the bolt is what makes it so difficult to predict. Stranded wire is best to handle the high frequency, and flat conductors like the ones used for SSB grounding would probably be best, but I am not sure that flat foil could even handle the current. In any case, we all came thru OK.
I also helped the 470 owner track down a problem with his 110 outlets. It turns out that he had an additional GFCI installed in the chain of outlets on the starboard side or his boat, and it tripped. However, we did discover that the GFCI in his aft head was not tripping at all, which is NOT A GOOD THING. He plans a trip to the hardware store to buy a new one, and he will likely remove the one that was added, because the computer that used to use that outlet is no longer installed.
I tried to hook up the GPS to the two radios yesterday, but it does not look like the Raymarine system is putting out an NMEA signal. At least I found out that the boat was wired with this eventuality in mind, so I don't have to run more wire. I also found out that Jeanneau very thoughtfully pre-wired a number of other switches to terminal blocks, so that the additional of new electrical components would be easier. The more I discover about this boat, the more I am impressed with the forethought of the builder. Who says the French don't know how to build things correctly?
I also found the instruction manual for the anchor windlass, and in reading it(!) I discovered that I can calibrate the windlass so that it reads out the correct length of chain deployed. This is something that has also bugged some of the other Jeanneau owners, and I will report on my success with this project. It also looks like I will have to do some maintenance on winches and the windlass this week.
The biggest success of the weekend, however, and getting Vonage to work. We have been waiting for the WiFi access point to arrive, and I wondered whether other options might work.
More in the next post.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Rainy interlude
It is raining, which they really need down here, and which is a good break from the winds that have been howling thru for the past 2 days. When we decided to stay another month, we also decided to re-tie the boat, which is in this 75 ft(!) slip. We originally tied up thinking we would stay for 3 days, and we just used bumpers to hold us off the finger pier, but several northers convinced us that we needed something more substantial. They would pound us against the finger pier, and the motion was horrible.
So we unplugged from electricity and cable, and untied all of the lines(!) to get underway 35 feet(!) to the far piling, where Ralph attached our longest dock line. The bow-thruster was quite useful for this evolution. Then back into the slip, and re-tieing the lines, and re-hooking the power and cable. At least the inverter worked well to provide AC while we were "at sea". Small tests like this are reassuring. The motion now is much better, and we don't have to worry as much about the fenders.
Since it is raining, the kitties are staying inside, and they, especially Dante, want to be amused. He has become a royal PIA about getting attention, to the point that he now bites when ignored. Not any sort of serious bite, but he just opens his mouth and lets you know that he has teeth, which is quite disconcerting. We have a squirt bottle to try to discourage this behavior, but it is never quite readily at hand. He used to do this in HF when he wanted food first thing in the AM - he did it to rxc regularly when he got out of the shower at 5:25 am. Just a lite nip to let you know that he is there, with needs...
We are also waiting for the delivery of a new WiFi access point that will (1) give us better connectivity (it is already great in this marina, but elsewhere it will be better), and (2) allow us to hook up to Vonage, so we will have VoIP phone service, with a Pittsburgh phone number. The Vonage box arrived in only one day, but the AP seems to be on a slow UPS truck. Hopefully the ISPs here and other places we hook up to will not filter out Vonage. I think we will even be able to use these two items at the house in France, and maybe even on the boat in Europe.
Maybe I will do some more paperwork. We have left the printer out, since we are not going anywhere, so I can print out some stuff and get it ready to mail.
So we unplugged from electricity and cable, and untied all of the lines(!) to get underway 35 feet(!) to the far piling, where Ralph attached our longest dock line. The bow-thruster was quite useful for this evolution. Then back into the slip, and re-tieing the lines, and re-hooking the power and cable. At least the inverter worked well to provide AC while we were "at sea". Small tests like this are reassuring. The motion now is much better, and we don't have to worry as much about the fenders.
Since it is raining, the kitties are staying inside, and they, especially Dante, want to be amused. He has become a royal PIA about getting attention, to the point that he now bites when ignored. Not any sort of serious bite, but he just opens his mouth and lets you know that he has teeth, which is quite disconcerting. We have a squirt bottle to try to discourage this behavior, but it is never quite readily at hand. He used to do this in HF when he wanted food first thing in the AM - he did it to rxc regularly when he got out of the shower at 5:25 am. Just a lite nip to let you know that he is there, with needs...
We are also waiting for the delivery of a new WiFi access point that will (1) give us better connectivity (it is already great in this marina, but elsewhere it will be better), and (2) allow us to hook up to Vonage, so we will have VoIP phone service, with a Pittsburgh phone number. The Vonage box arrived in only one day, but the AP seems to be on a slow UPS truck. Hopefully the ISPs here and other places we hook up to will not filter out Vonage. I think we will even be able to use these two items at the house in France, and maybe even on the boat in Europe.
Maybe I will do some more paperwork. We have left the printer out, since we are not going anywhere, so I can print out some stuff and get it ready to mail.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Backstory - Part 3 - Down the ditch
The first day into the ditch was quite an experience. We had to leave the marina at 5:00 am to be able to make two bridges that are normally closed during Norfolk rush-hour, so we made the initial part of the trip in the dark, and it was also quite foggy. It was challenging, trying to figure out where the marks were, and which way to go, but we worked quite well together, with jlm looking out for lights, while rxc steered and navigated. We had an interesting conversation with one bridge tender who said that she would "try" to open the bridge, but was not sure whether it would open(!). We also had to duck a few freighters who were coming out. Luckily, we did not meet any warships. The chartplotter was also a great help.
We had originally wanted to take the Dismal Swamp route, but it is closed for the winter because of low water in the swamp, so we had to take the Virginia Cut. All of the guide books say this is a miserable, monotanus(sp?) route, with no redeeming qualities, but we found it quite interesting. Maybe we have a low threshold for amusement. We saw lots of birds, few boats, and the low-lying marshes were quite interesting. The wind was on the nose most of the way down, except for a very few moments. We tried to sail, but quickly gave up.
Because of the lack of anchorages, this was a long day. We made it all the way to the mouth of the Alligator river, where we anchored in deep twilight. Luckily, there was NO wind, so we kind of drifted around the anchor all night, and we up before dawn the next day to keep heading south.
The second day out of Norfolk was up the Alligator River and down the Pungo River-Alligator River canal, which was not exciting, but again quite pretty with fall colors. We tried to find some fresh shrimp for dinner at one spot that had a number of fishing boats and was noted to have fish, but none were available. We think it may have had something to do with being the day before Thanksgiving. We also got to do some nice sailing down the Pungo River, which was a change from constant motoring. Calypso drooled but less.
The third day was a bit shorter than the first two, because we really pushed the first two days (82 miles each day). We wanted to get to Moorhead City early in the afternoon, and we were successful, arriving about noon. We tied up at the town docks in Beaufort NC, which is right across the inlet, and it is quite a charming place. A very nice “Main Street” with lots of interesting shops (all closed on T-day), restaurants (for a nice seafood lunch today), and nicely maintained old houses. Many of the houses seem to be for sale (prices from $400K to $1.5MM). They even have free Wifi available along the docks. We had T-day dinner at the Backstreet Pub, where the town threw a party for the cruisers, with turkey, ham, desserts, and all the fixins (except for liquor). Because the wind was a bit strong, we took take a lay-day to finish up some projects and rest.
We hoped to go off-shore (25-50 miles) for the next leg, down to Charleston. We wanted to leave in the early AM, getting in on Sunday mid-day. The plan was to stay in the City Marina there for a few days before continuing down the ICW to Savannah. jlm wanted to see one of her contractors who was supposed be at Fort Pulaski in Savannah, and we should have been able to make this all work, if the weather cooperated. But it was not to be...
We had originally wanted to take the Dismal Swamp route, but it is closed for the winter because of low water in the swamp, so we had to take the Virginia Cut. All of the guide books say this is a miserable, monotanus(sp?) route, with no redeeming qualities, but we found it quite interesting. Maybe we have a low threshold for amusement. We saw lots of birds, few boats, and the low-lying marshes were quite interesting. The wind was on the nose most of the way down, except for a very few moments. We tried to sail, but quickly gave up.
Because of the lack of anchorages, this was a long day. We made it all the way to the mouth of the Alligator river, where we anchored in deep twilight. Luckily, there was NO wind, so we kind of drifted around the anchor all night, and we up before dawn the next day to keep heading south.
The second day out of Norfolk was up the Alligator River and down the Pungo River-Alligator River canal, which was not exciting, but again quite pretty with fall colors. We tried to find some fresh shrimp for dinner at one spot that had a number of fishing boats and was noted to have fish, but none were available. We think it may have had something to do with being the day before Thanksgiving. We also got to do some nice sailing down the Pungo River, which was a change from constant motoring. Calypso drooled but less.
The third day was a bit shorter than the first two, because we really pushed the first two days (82 miles each day). We wanted to get to Moorhead City early in the afternoon, and we were successful, arriving about noon. We tied up at the town docks in Beaufort NC, which is right across the inlet, and it is quite a charming place. A very nice “Main Street” with lots of interesting shops (all closed on T-day), restaurants (for a nice seafood lunch today), and nicely maintained old houses. Many of the houses seem to be for sale (prices from $400K to $1.5MM). They even have free Wifi available along the docks. We had T-day dinner at the Backstreet Pub, where the town threw a party for the cruisers, with turkey, ham, desserts, and all the fixins (except for liquor). Because the wind was a bit strong, we took take a lay-day to finish up some projects and rest.
We hoped to go off-shore (25-50 miles) for the next leg, down to Charleston. We wanted to leave in the early AM, getting in on Sunday mid-day. The plan was to stay in the City Marina there for a few days before continuing down the ICW to Savannah. jlm wanted to see one of her contractors who was supposed be at Fort Pulaski in Savannah, and we should have been able to make this all work, if the weather cooperated. But it was not to be...
Backstory - Part 2
So, lets start in Baltimore, where the boat was berthed for over a year. After getting the house packed and sent off to France in August, and then getting it sold right away to a colleague and her husband, we went off to France to meet the containers. Unfortunately, the containers were hung up in Baltimore by Customs, probably because we put the pickup truck into one of the the containers at the last minute. They took nearly 2 weeks to figure out what to do about it - xray the container, open it, or what. In the end, it seems that they did open it, because we found a cut security bolt inside when it wass delivered.
We had hoped to have the containers delivered in mid-late September, but because of the US Customs, we missed 3 sailings, and then when they did get to France, the French customs people took some time to decide what to do. They also focused on the truck, and eventually decided that it was a commercial vehicle(!), and they charged us nearly 2000 euros of import tax. This delayed delivery till mid October, and while we were waiting, jlm's mother passed away in NY. What to do?!?
jlm decided that there was not much she could do for her mother by rushing back to NY, so she decided to stay to help with the containers. They arrived, and with the tremendous help of our neighbors, were unloaded and shifted into the house&barn. We then went back to the US, buried jlm's mother and cleaned out her apt, and traveled to Pittsburgh to pick up the cats, at rxc's mother's house. Then we all stuffed the car full and went back to Baltimore, where our last residence in the US was located. We somehow managed to stuff all of the "stuff" into the boat, and spent 2 weeks installing an SSB and some other major equipment, before we left on Nov 18, the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
Luckily for us, we have a complete enclosure for the cockpit, so the trip south was not nearly as cold as it could have been. The first day down the bay started out foggy, but the sun eventually came out, and we were able to do some sailing. The winds were fickle, however, and after dark we had to start the engine and we motored most of the night. It was actually good to have the engine running, because the blower exhausts into the cockpit and helped keep us warm.
We got into Norfolk about 9:30, running down past the naval base to the marina right in downtown Norfolk. We did some essential shopping for groceries and charts, took a nap, and then got ready to enter the ditch.
We had hoped to have the containers delivered in mid-late September, but because of the US Customs, we missed 3 sailings, and then when they did get to France, the French customs people took some time to decide what to do. They also focused on the truck, and eventually decided that it was a commercial vehicle(!), and they charged us nearly 2000 euros of import tax. This delayed delivery till mid October, and while we were waiting, jlm's mother passed away in NY. What to do?!?
jlm decided that there was not much she could do for her mother by rushing back to NY, so she decided to stay to help with the containers. They arrived, and with the tremendous help of our neighbors, were unloaded and shifted into the house&barn. We then went back to the US, buried jlm's mother and cleaned out her apt, and traveled to Pittsburgh to pick up the cats, at rxc's mother's house. Then we all stuffed the car full and went back to Baltimore, where our last residence in the US was located. We somehow managed to stuff all of the "stuff" into the boat, and spent 2 weeks installing an SSB and some other major equipment, before we left on Nov 18, the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
Luckily for us, we have a complete enclosure for the cockpit, so the trip south was not nearly as cold as it could have been. The first day down the bay started out foggy, but the sun eventually came out, and we were able to do some sailing. The winds were fickle, however, and after dark we had to start the engine and we motored most of the night. It was actually good to have the engine running, because the blower exhausts into the cockpit and helped keep us warm.
We got into Norfolk about 9:30, running down past the naval base to the marina right in downtown Norfolk. We did some essential shopping for groceries and charts, took a nap, and then got ready to enter the ditch.
Backstory - part 1
Where to start...
In November, when we left Baltimore? In June, when rxc retired? In 1999, when they bought the house in France? In 1987, when they moved to France for the first time? In 1983, when they met at a party thrown by a woman that he was (just casually) dating? In 1972, when he joined the Navy and developed a taste for boats and travel and food? In the 1950s, when she developed a yen for sailing and textiles and food?
Maybe we will just start in Baltimore, and fill in the holes as we go along.
This trip started on November 18, 2007, out of the Anchorage Marina in Baltimore, where Petillant had been berthed since July 2006. It is (1) a repositioning voyage for the boat to France, where rxc and jlm have a house and intend to retire, (2) a shakedown voyage of the boat in anticipation of the trip across the Atlantic, and then additional voyages around Europe, and (3) a retirement/vacation/adventure trip.
The boat is a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 43DS, 2-cabin version, sailboat. The name is french for "sparkling", and is also a wine term used to describe bubbly wine, usually with less carbonation than sparkling wine that is made like champagne.
The cats are Maine Coons, known for the gregarious nature, large size, and their fur, which is abundant. Zabelle is the #1 old lady. She was born in Amsterdam in 1990, and then lived in Paris, Washington, DC, and Harpers Ferry before she moved on board. Her daughter Siren is 14, was born in DC, and has followed her mother everywhere, in spite of Zabelle's efforts to be rid of her.
Dante and Calypso were born in Indiana in August 2006, and have lived with rxc and jlm in HF. They are bundles of energy and affection, and it was thought that they would take to sailing quite well. Unfortunately, Calypso gets quite seasick (more on that in later posts), and Dante insists on staying up in the cockpit when the boat is at sea. As a result, their participation in future long sea voyages is an open question.
The house in HF was sold in September, and all of the household goods were moved to France, where they are currently in storage in the barn and in the upstairs loft in the house. The house-sitters are still there, working on getting their new house complete and ready to move into, so the house is a bit crowded right now. Until then, rxc and jlm will be living on Petillant, crusing the Carribbean and getting ready for a transatlantic voyage.
More to come in part 2
In November, when we left Baltimore? In June, when rxc retired? In 1999, when they bought the house in France? In 1987, when they moved to France for the first time? In 1983, when they met at a party thrown by a woman that he was (just casually) dating? In 1972, when he joined the Navy and developed a taste for boats and travel and food? In the 1950s, when she developed a yen for sailing and textiles and food?
Maybe we will just start in Baltimore, and fill in the holes as we go along.
This trip started on November 18, 2007, out of the Anchorage Marina in Baltimore, where Petillant had been berthed since July 2006. It is (1) a repositioning voyage for the boat to France, where rxc and jlm have a house and intend to retire, (2) a shakedown voyage of the boat in anticipation of the trip across the Atlantic, and then additional voyages around Europe, and (3) a retirement/vacation/adventure trip.
The boat is a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 43DS, 2-cabin version, sailboat. The name is french for "sparkling", and is also a wine term used to describe bubbly wine, usually with less carbonation than sparkling wine that is made like champagne.
The cats are Maine Coons, known for the gregarious nature, large size, and their fur, which is abundant. Zabelle is the #1 old lady. She was born in Amsterdam in 1990, and then lived in Paris, Washington, DC, and Harpers Ferry before she moved on board. Her daughter Siren is 14, was born in DC, and has followed her mother everywhere, in spite of Zabelle's efforts to be rid of her.
Dante and Calypso were born in Indiana in August 2006, and have lived with rxc and jlm in HF. They are bundles of energy and affection, and it was thought that they would take to sailing quite well. Unfortunately, Calypso gets quite seasick (more on that in later posts), and Dante insists on staying up in the cockpit when the boat is at sea. As a result, their participation in future long sea voyages is an open question.
The house in HF was sold in September, and all of the household goods were moved to France, where they are currently in storage in the barn and in the upstairs loft in the house. The house-sitters are still there, working on getting their new house complete and ready to move into, so the house is a bit crowded right now. Until then, rxc and jlm will be living on Petillant, crusing the Carribbean and getting ready for a transatlantic voyage.
More to come in part 2
Welcome aboard
These are the voyages of the sailing vessel Petillant. Her eight-month mission: to get to France and thru the French douane some time before September 2008.
Along with her crew of two(currently) humans and four Maine Coon Cats, she has successfully made the trip down the ICW to Stuart Florida, where the humans are now recharging, and the cats are getting used to life on board. This blog will discuss the trip so far, and in the future, as all involved grapple with their new lives. Stay tuned for more info...
Along with her crew of two(currently) humans and four Maine Coon Cats, she has successfully made the trip down the ICW to Stuart Florida, where the humans are now recharging, and the cats are getting used to life on board. This blog will discuss the trip so far, and in the future, as all involved grapple with their new lives. Stay tuned for more info...
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